Mosaic Floor with Head of Medusa

Roman, about AD 115-150
Stone tesserae
The Getty Villa
A bust of the gorgon Medusa occupies the center of this Roman mosaic floor. Although early Greek representations of Medusa emphasized her hideous and monstrous appearance, a more human-appearing figure had become the norm by the time of this mosaic in the 100s A.D. Medusa's former snaky locks are now just wild curls and she even takes on traits derived from representations of Alexander the Great and Hellenistic kings, like her wind-blown hair and turned head. In this mosaic, Medusa is placed in a shield of concentric circles, whose alternating black and white triangles create an optical illusion of continuous motion. An outer square encloses the shield and kantharoi or drinking cups fill the outer corners. This spinning shield motif with the gorgon's head as its central point appears frequently on Roman mosaic floors. The basic design derives from Athena's aegis, the scaly protective cloak decorated with Medusa's decapitated head.

This photo was taken by a Kowa/SIX medium format film camera with a KOWA 1:3.5/55mm lens using Kodak Portra 800 film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.